RLD chief Ajit Singh, after meeting the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday, stated that he has been assured of the government bringing a bill to amend the Land Acquisition Act in the coming session of Parliament. Mr Singh led a delegation to the Prime Minister to apprise him of the issue of the farmers in western UP being up in arms against land acquisition by the UP government.

The Intelligence Bureau has zeroed in on Dawood Ibrahim’s location in Jeddah. It has updated the dossier on the world’s second-most-wanted terrorist with the latest intelligence, including details of his bases in Islamic countries beyond Pakistan, especially in Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

The blame game between the leaders of the two national parties — the Congress and the BJP — on the PAC’s draft report on the 2G scam is violating the spirit of functioning of parliamentary committees which do not function on party lines. While Congress leaders are mounting pressure on the Speaker to reject the report, the Opposition has made Union minister P. Chidambaram the main target of its attack.

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the United States have jointly launched a manhunt for Taliban supremo Mullah Omar in Quetta, media reports here said. “Both US and Pakistani special forces are hunting for Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Omar’s hideout after new tip-offs,” a private Pakistani TV channel reported. “Intelligence suggests the one-eyed warlord is being sheltered in... Quetta,” another channel reported.

Rajya Sabha DMK MP Kanimozhi was on Tuesday exempted from personal appearance for two days in connection with the 2G spectrum scam case by a special Central Bureau of Investigation court which allowed her to appear on May 12 before the Chennai income-tax office to respond to summons for alleged tax evasion.

In West Bengal, the Marxists are out in the cold. Exit polls broadcast by several television channels after the last phase ended in the state on Tuesday afternoon indicated a complete rout of the Left from its strongest bastion, West Bengal, where it has ruled for 34 years. In Kerala, however, it appears to be a neck-and-neck fight between the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front.

The government, in order to boost cross-LoC trade in Jammu and Kashmir, is working towards making banking facilities available to the traders replacing the existing bartering system.

Praja Rajyam chief K. Chiranjeevi, who was summoned by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, left for New Delhi on Tuesday evening starting rumours that he might be destined for a key position soon.

The ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) is under great pressure to permit the partial release of Bt brinjal. The 19-member Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has informally conveyed to the ministry its keenness to introduce the controversial Bt brinjal at the earliest.

The just-concluded byelection to Bastar (ST) Lok Sabha constituency has triggered a CD war between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition Congress in Chhattisgarh with the latter releasing a CD showing alleged tampering of EVMs by the saffron workers.